WJA 2023: Rachel Roman

Partner, Zevan Davidson Roman, St. Louis

Having worked as a nurse in a Chicago emergency room for two years, Rachel Roman was already familiar with how to help the injured.

“I decided that I wanted to take my career to another level and help people in a different way,” she said of her switch to law.

The 43-year-old native of rural Illinois has done just that. In 2012, she was listed among the top 40 Lawyers Under 40 by the National Trial Lawyers Association. A veteran of personal injury work from the Simon Law Firm, she did a lot of medical malpractice cases as an associate at her present firm where she earned a partnership in 2017.

The Saint Louis University graduate said that she finds obstetrical birth injury cases to be especially rewarding because she can work with children who have suffered as a result of negligent care and try “to help them to improve their life and get answers as to what happened during the labor and delivery process.”

That speaks to why she entered the field in the first place.

“I went to law school because I wanted to continue to help people and advocate for people who were wronged by others,” noted Roman, who sits on the board of governors for the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.

Roman’s nominator describes her as a hard worker with a track record of multi-million-dollar recoveries but who does not seek out recognition for herself.

“She takes on cases that may be difficult when she believes that a negligent health care provider, individual or institution needs to be held responsible,” they write.

Roman said that equity between men and women in the field is becoming more and more a reality.

“I think that we are getting closer,” she said. “I think there are still some disparities but we are definitely getting closer. I feel more confident in seeing more female judges on the bench and seeing a lot more female litigators on the other side of me.”